Boom, Crash, Bang, Scream, was the only things I heard as I woke up and ran down the hall to check on my son, Ryder. As I opened the door I saw that he was in a ball crying. “What is wrong, buddy?” I asked.
“Mommy, I had a nightmare.” He said whimpering.
“It’s okay, I got you, nothing is going to hurt you.” I said cradling him in my arms.
“Mommy, will tell me the story of the fisherman again?” He asked looking up into my eyes.
“Sure, buddy.” I said tucking him back in bed and laying down beside him.
“It all began on what seemed to be an ordinary day. But, on this ordinary day something extraordinary happened. There was this fisherman in a small little boat out in the middle of a humungous body of water called The Sea of Death. This sea was as calm as an afternoon on Sunday after church. It was rumored to be haunted by the ghost of all that have died while trying to cross its water. In a previous time period, the sea was used as a route for the slave trade leaders to get slaves into Cuba. Anyway, while this fisherman was out on his boat fishing he noticed something moving in the water out of the corner of his eye, he didn’t know what it was. So he put down his fishing pole and went to look over the side where he thought he saw it and saw nothing. Then, out of nowhere his boat began moving so fast that everything around him was a blur. He became disoriented he didn’t know if it was his boat and him moving or if he was still and everything else was moving at the speed of life. Once he began to think rationally again, he jumped back from one side of the boat to the other and grabbed his pole and began the fight of his life. He pulled and yanked, and yanked and pulled. As he was doing this he realized that the sea had become, as if it was a monster itself. With ten feet tall rolling waves that never seemed to stop. Wave after wave, it was as if he was riding a bucking bronco. As this was all going on he looked off to the east and realized he could no longer see any land but, he saw this ship fighting the sea just like himself.” I said pausing looking down at my son, to see if he was asleep or still listening to the story.
“Mommy, don’t stop there. What happens next? Mommy go on finish it, please!” Ryder said getting excited and almost jumping up down on the bed.
“Okay, okay, calm down. Now where was I?” I said as if I didn’t remember.
“Oh, mommy. He just saw the other boat fighting the sea too.” Ryder looked up at me, telling me with a huge smile on his face, it was as if he had transformed into another person. Who would have thought a story would change a child from whimpering to excited to find out what happens next.
“Oh, that’s right. As he saw this ship he began to realize just how bad things were actually getting. If that humongous ship that is like a three story house on water is having problems navigating this water then he was as go as dead.
“Could this get any worse?” The fisherman said aloud, but, regretted it as soon as he said it. It was like God was punishing him for every bad thing that he has ever done in this one morning that was peacefully clear and perfect for fishing. But, NO it just had to turn out to be a horrible day. The sky became gray, maybe even smokey looking, it seemed that the sea itself began to calm down but the sky to a cue from the sea and looked as if a storm was going to blow through.
As soon as the fisherman looked up at the sky he wished he hadn’t. As he looked down at his fishing pool, that he still had a hold of, he began to gently tug on it, to see if the fish caught was still on the end or if he had lost it in the storm. When he tugged on it he came to the realization that the fish was still there, he began to pull and yank again. This time something different happened, the sea didn’t begin to turn into a monster, but it seemed to be saying that it felt it earned the fish because, the sea gave away to the force of his pull and the fish popped out and to the fisherman’s boat.
While he was fishing he forgot about the huge boat that was headed his way. He looked to the east and saw that the boat seemed to be at a standstill. As he was looking at the boat he thought that maybe they needed help, so he sailed his way over there to give assistance. As he got closer he saw that someone had thrown him down a rope ladder. Before he climbed aboard the ship he had a moment of indecision he didn’t know if he should climb aboard the ship and leave his boat and his fish that he had fought all morning alone or he should stay on his boat and head back home to his family. As he was thinking this through he heard some on board the ship scream, “HELP!” and in the moment he decided for better worse he would help, and he climbed aboard.
As he climbed up the rope ladder the wind jostled him from side to side as if in warning, but he continued climbing in warning. As he finally made it to the top of the ladder and climbed over the edge he saw something that shook him to the core.” I said pausing to check on my son. When I looked down I saw that he had fallen back to sleep.
“Good night, Ryder. I love you.” I said kissing him on the cheek, closing the door to his room, and going back to bed.
